Internal Fianna Fáil process to take place into councillor Noel Thomas’ comments on refugees after Galway hotel fire

Fianna Fáil councillors in Galway have received criticism for comments made after the fire in Ross Lake House hotel.

Councillor Noel Thomas said Ireland can no longer accommodate international protection applicants as “the inn is full” after a hotel earmarked to house refugees was burnt down over the weekend.

Gardaí are investigating a fire that occurred at about 11.35pm on Saturday at Hotel in Rosscahill, Oughterard, Co Galway as a suspected incident of criminal damage.

The former hotel had not been in use for several years and had been selected to house 70 asylum seekers in coming days.

Speaking to Morning Ireland on RTÉ Radio One, coalition party politician Noel Thomas said the blockade was attended by “people from the locality” who all condemn the fire at the hotel.

“You’ve got to understand the strong links that hotel has got with the community there and everybody there were completely disheartened and gutted when they heard it had burnt down.”

He said it held “fond memories” for people in the surrounding area and that “everybody was gutted, even yesterday talking to people”.

“They’re disgusted with what happened to that hotel and nobody, nobody condones what happened there.”

He said those attending the blockade were concerned about the “possibility of 70 male migrants being brought in to stay in a hotel” as the location is remote and in “complete isolation”.

Mr Thomas said it would “instil a certain amount of fear” in people, adding: “It’s the fear of the unknown. Nobody knows.”

He told how people in the area are happy to let their children out to play and leave their “doors open”, saying: “What they’re afraid of is that there maybe some antisocial behaviour coming from a group of young men being isolated in an area like this.

“There is no evidence in the conjunction with the particular people that may have been brought into that area,” he said.

“I cannot say exactly what these people are going to be doing, but the fear is there no matter what.”

Asked whether he believes Ireland should continue to accept people seeking asylum into the country, he said: “No, we shouldn’t because the inn is full. When you’re trying to solve a problem by creating more problems, it really doesn’t make sense.

“Like, what we have now in this country at the moment, we have a situation here where we are bringing more and more people in here, we have no place for them to stay, we’re putting them into hotels, we’re putting them into B&Bs, we’re putting them into rooms in houses, that is not proper accommodation for people and it’s actually causing a lot of upset in a lot of communities.

“We really have to start realising that the inn is full.”

When asked what will happen to the 70 people who could have been accommodated in the hotel, he said: “I do not know. It’s not any of my responsibility, it’s not the responsibility of the community in Rosscahill.

“Like, I don’t know where they’re going to go because I don’t think there was any place suitable for them to go in the first place. Why were they brought in here with the false hope that they were going to be accommodated?”

The party’s headquarters said they do not accept attempts to equate migration with increased criminality.

Fianna Fáil’s Rules and Procedures Committee will now examine the comments made by party representatives.

“Fianna Fáil is a Republican party and we believe in equality and inclusion. The dignity of every person must be respected, regardless of background,” said a party spokesperson.

“We do not accept any equivocation in respect of any criminal acts and do not accept attempts or suggestions being made to equate migration with increased criminality.

“Comments made to that effect by any public representative are wrong and unacceptable. The Party has made this clear on numerous occasions.

“Fianna Fáil again unreservedly condemns the criminal destruction that took place in Ross Lake House hotel in Co. Galway on Saturday night and comments made by Party representatives have been referred to the Party’s Rules and Procedures Committee.”

A Fianna Fáil source said Tánaiste Micheál Martin has spoken to one councillor and plans to speak to the other.

Internal processes will deal with any complaints, they said.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar on Monday said the debate on migration should be “open and honest”, according to the Taoiseach, as he hit out at disinformation surrounding the issue.

Mr Varadkar said the Government should be communicating “better” with the public on migration and said capacity for housing is being expanded.

“We have a job to do as a Government to communicate with people better on migration,” he said.

“I’m concerned about the level of misinformation, quite frankly, that is out there and we have a duty, as do the media by the way, in ensuring that we’re all informed and that we can push back against misinformation myths when they arise.”

Mr Varadkar declined to respond to comments from a Fianna Fáil councillor Mr Thomas, who said Ireland should not accept any more asylum seekers because “the inn is full”.

He said Ireland’s migration policy is “rules based”.

“Migration in Ireland is rules based. I hear absolute myths about us somehow having an open borders policy or rolling out the red carpet and welcoming people to come here regularly. That is just not the case, we have a rules based system and it’s rules that we apply,” Mr Varadkar said.

“There is an incorrect perception that somehow, the Government is bringing people in to the country. That’s not the case at all.

“We bring some people in, other people will arrive in anyway. And we have to manage that the best way we can.”

He said capacity is increasing when it comes to housing and over 30,000 homes were built this year.

“We’re doing our best to find accommodation for anyone who needs it, whether it’s people who are homeless for all sorts of reasons and we’re doing our best to do that,” he said.

“We’re expanding capacity in the country all the time. When it comes to people who are coming here to Ireland seeking international protection, we’re not in a position to guarantee people accommodation. We can guarantee people coming from Ukraine accommodation for up to 90 days but we’re not in a position to guarantee accommodation for everybody who comes here seeking international protection, nor do we for people arriving here on work permits for example, nor do we for people arriving here from other parts of the EU as EU citizens, nor do we for people arriving from the UK.”

Minister for Integration Roderic O’Gorman has said the suspected arson of hotel was a “deeply sinister” act designed to intimidate international protection applicants.

The burning of the centre, which was due to house 70 international protection applicants this week, would put the Government under “real pressure” at a time when it was already not able to house every arrival in the country, he said.

Those due to be housed in Rosscahill were among the approximately 200 applicants without another offer of state accommodation.

Mr O’Gorman said: “What we saw took place in Galway was deeply sinister and I believe it was a criminal act. It was dangerous and resulted in severe damage to private property.

“I also think it was designed to intimidate people seeking international protection here in Ireland, people who use the international protection process have a right to be safely accommodated while their application is being adjudicated on,” he told RTÉ Radio One.

The minister said there was a “real challenge” with accommodating applicants and that the state was overly reliant on the private sector.

The state expected the total number of applicants for international protection to be approximately 13,000 people this year.

Mr O’Gorman said there was “absolutely no evidence at all” of a link between migrants and violence.

Mr O’Gorman said: “I think it is really problematic when an elected representative comes on our national airwaves and makes these entirely bogus claims.”

Asked if it was fair to ask the community of approximately 300 people near the Ross Lake Hotel to welcome 70 asylum seekers overnight, he said: “It’s not overnight and we have a community engagement process set up whereby we communicate with elected representatives and community representatives in terms of the numbers of international protection applicants being moved into an area and the support that would be put in place.”

The minister said it was a “provision of information” rather than a consultation exercise and the notification was given last Friday ahead of a planned move-in date on Thursday.

He said: “I think in the context of where we are also not able to accommodate a significant number of people right now, I do believe it’s adequate notice.”

Mr O’Gorman said every international protection applicant’s fingerprints were checked against two EU databases for past offences in member states.

He distinguished this from “vetting” as he said this referred to specifics around child protection.

Government Chief Whip Hildegarde Naughton said the incident was “deeply shocking and disturbing” and that people should not be “playing into the playbook of the far-right”.

The Galway West TD said: “I think the overwhelming majority of people not just in Galway but across the country would feel similarly.

“I understand that people have concerns with immigration, that’s one thing but as elected representatives and community leaders, we need to be engaging with people and I think not playing into the playbook of the far-right in relation to mistruths and lies that have been spread and we’ve seen examples of that across the country over the last few months.

“We have a responsibility to engage with people, absolutely address their concerns and to put this into perspective,” she said, adding that “this country wouldn’t function” without migrants.

“This (incident) instils fear for many migrant people across this country,” she said, citing the numbers of people working in healthcare, hospitality and multinational companies.

She told how she was first informed of the plans for the hotel on Friday, Ms Naughton said: "I spoke to Minister Roderic O’Gorman over the weekend and he is fully committed to ensuring that there is meaningful engagement which needs to happen with the communities and that was going to happen this week.”

Ms Naughton said this would have initially occurred by informing elected representatives whose role is to “allay” and “raise” any concerns.

"I understand this is not an easy situation for many communities but I think there’s a lot of untruth there and people instilling fear that is really unnecessary and I think it creates division within communities.”

Ms Naughton said anyone who may have information about the incident should contact the gardaí.

"This is really serious and I know people are really concerned locally, people in Galway, this is not us. This is not who we are in Galway. We’re a welcoming county.”